Jeremy Hefner Rumors

Mets right-hander Jeremy Hefner received awful news after experiencing discomfort in his third rehab outing last week. Via Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (Twitter link), Hefner has a fracture in his elbow and will have to undergo his second Tommy John operation of the past year. The 28-year-old has spent the past year recovering from TJ and will now likely miss most, if not all of the 2015 campaign as well. MLBTR wishes Hefner the best of luck and a full recovery in the next round of rehab.

Here are some more links from baseball’s Eastern divisions…

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles aren’t interested in bringing back longtime second baseman Brian Roberts, who was recently released by the Yankees (Twitter link).

Joel Sherman of the New York Post examines the Yankees‘ midseason rentals — Stephen Drew, Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy — and wonders if any of the three will be back with the team in 2015 (and beyond). As Sherman notes, the final months of the season will serve as an audition for each player, and each could have a logical spot on the roster. Drew could replace the retiring Derek Jeter, Headley could handle third base when Alex Rodriguez DHs, and McCarthy can serve as valuable rotation depth given the uncertainty surrounding New York’s internal options.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that he’s looking for rotation depth following the trade of Roberto Hernandez and the injury to Cliff Lee. That desire led to the claim of Jerome Williams, but it sounds as if the Phils could be on the lookout for other cheap additions that could help them beyond the 2014 season. Salisbury notes that 2014 first-round pick Aaron Nola is not under consideration for a jump to the Majors.

Within that same piece, Salisbury also speculates that the Tigers and Phillies could reboot their previous trade talks for Jonathan Papelbon due to Joe Nathan‘s recent struggles and Joakim Soria‘s injury (he is on the DL with an oblique strain). Amaro tells Salisbury that the two sides haven’t talked trade recently, but he does acknowledge that he spoke with the Tigers “particularly about the bullpen.” Antonio Bastardo was thought to be a Tigers target at one point, but as Salisbury notes, Bastardo was placed on waivers earlier this month. While no reports surfaced of him being claimed, it’s highly unlikely that he would clear, given that he had a mere $600K or so of his 2014 salary remaining at the time he was placed on waivers.

One more note from Salisbury, as he reports that Amaro said it’s “possible” that top prospect Maikel Franco will receive a September call-up. An earlier promotion is unlikely for Franco, per Amaro, but there’s little doubt that he’s impressed as of late. While Franco struggled with the jump to Triple-A to open the season, he’s mashed since July 1, hitting .338/.360/.564 in 139 plate appearances.

The Mets have re-signed starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo tweets. They non-tendered Hefner last week. Hefner will spend this year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent late in the season.

Hefner, 27, pitched well for the Mets in his second big league season, racking up 130 2/3 innings in 24 outings (23 starts) for the club. Before being shut down in August and undergoing surgery, the right-hander posted a 4.34 ERA to go along with 6.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.

Even though Hefner is unlikely to return to the mound until the second half of the 2014 season, New York's decision to non-tender him came as a bit of a surprise, since he's not yet eligible for arbitration. However, as Adam Rubin of ESPN New York tweets, Hefner's new deal with the Mets will be a minor league pact, which will result in significant cost savings for the team as he rehabs.

Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2014 season. We'll run down the list of National League non-tenders here. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR's Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates as well. Also of use will be our Arbitration Eligibles series, which includes Matt Swartz's projected 2014 salaries for all arbitration eligible players.

The Mets officially announced their slate of non-tenders, which includes a few new names in Jeremy Hefner and Justin Turner(via tweet from Andy Martino of the New York Daily News).

The Braves announced that they have non-tendered infielders Elliot Johnson and Paul Janish as well as right-hander Cristhian Martinez (Twitter link). Johnson, 29, batted .209/.255/.283 in 275 plate appearances between the Royals and Braves last season. Janish was less productive in 45 PAs, batting .171/.222/.220. Martinez, 31, missed nearly the entire season due to shoulder surgery. However, he posted a 3.63 ERA in 151 1/3 innings for Atlanta from 2011-12, making him a potential buy-low candidate for another club.

The Mets have non-tendered Jordany Valdespin, Rubin reports. Valdespin has been a persistent source of drama for the Mets, lashing out at manager Terry Collins after being demoted and also being slapped with a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis PED scandal. The soon-to-be 26-year-old is a career .219/.271/.380 hitter in 350 big league plate appearances. Valdespin's non-tender comes despite him not yet being arbitration eligible, illustrating the Mets' frustration with the second baseman/outfielder.

The Cubs will non-tender right-hander Daniel Bard, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. Bard was claimed off waivers in September and never threw a pitch for the Cubs organization. WEEI.com's Rob Bradford notes that Bard was pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League but walked nine batters while recording just one out. The Cubs could still agree to a non-roster deal with Bard, he adds. Bard's control has vanished into thin air, as the formerly dominant setup man has also walked 56 batters over his past 47 1/3 minor league frames.

ESPN's Adam Rubin tweets that the Mets will also non-tender Scott Atchison. The right-hander projected to earn $1.3MM coming off a 4.37 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 45 1/3 innings. Atchison will turn 38 in late March.

7:50pm: Rubin notes (via Twitter) that the Mets may not actively shop Turner, but will listen to offers on him if a roster crunch arises late in the spring. In his revised article, he notes that manager Terry Collins is a big supporter of Turner.

5:32pm: Given the number of minor league deals the Mets have given to players with strong track records this offseason, the team could face a major 40-man roster crunch at the end of Spring Training, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. As such, the team is expected to gauge interest in infielder Justin Turner over the course of Spring Training.

The 28-year-old Turner has appeared in 211 games for the Mets over the past two seasons, hitting .262/.330/.366 with six homers in 672 plate appearances. He's appeared at all four infield positions in his career, though he hasn't graded out well at his primary position, second base, according to UZR/150 (-18.7) or The Fielding Bible (-16 runs).

One player who likely won't find himself as a roster casualty is Jeremy Hefner, whom the Mets claimed off waivers from the Pirates last offseason. Rubin reports that the Mets value Hefner too highly to expose him to waivers. The 26-year-old righty made his Major League debut with the Mets last season, starting 13 games (and appearing in 26 overall). In 93 2/3 innings, Hefner posted a 5.09 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and 43.8 percent ground-ball rate. Advanced metrics such as FIP (3.66) and xFIP (4.21) suggested that Hefner was much better than his ERA indicated, however.

Both Turner and Hefner have one option remaining, so they could open the season at Triple-A. That, however, would not alleviate any 40-man roster issues the Mets could encounter toward the end of Spring Training.